Worsening drought makes East Africa the frontline of the world’s fight against climate change

Villagers are starving to death as the severe drought in East Africa triggers a humanitarian crisis. Exclusive report and photographs by Rob Hastings from Sanaag, Somaliland

Victims of climate change are starving to death after seasonal rains failed once again in parts of East Africa afflicted by a three-year drought – with 19 million needing help in getting food and water just to stay alive.

i has visited Sanaag, one of the worst-hit areas in Somaliland, finding a remote camp in Fadhigab where six children had died in the past month as vital deliveries of food and water are unable to provide for ever-increasing numbers of desperate families arriving there.

Clan elders – who have seen entire herds of livestock wiped out, destroying their communities’ livelihoods – said the conditions were the worst they had ever experienced, after their hopes were dashed of summer rain finally providing respite.

People in the village of Dhabarmamac are only able to stay alive thanks to water aid deliveries (Photo: Rob Hastings)

This area of the world has experienced many droughts before, but the length and severity of the dry spell here is unprecedented, resulting in malnutrition and acute watery diarrhoea while also worsening the refugee crisis as it forces people from their land.

i also visited an overstretched hospital for malnourished mothers and babies, where some patients are treated by doctors and nurses who are going unpaid as funds are running low.

Dr Chris Funk, an expert on the East African climate with the US Geological Survey, said the situation in wider Somalia was “one of the most concerning rainfall trends in the world” and that average temperatures had also increased significantly. He believed this was “highly related to climate change” and said the fatal effects were a warning to the rest of the world because “Somalia is our canary in the coal mine“.

The situation in East Africa was declared an international emergency this year, leading to charities and governments from across the world responding to a UN appeal for $1.5bn (£1.1bn) for Somalia – but so far there is a $600m shortfall.

The British Government has contributed £170m from its aid budget for Somalia, while the British public has donated £60m to the East Africa Appeal for the whole region.

While the funding has so far prevented the humanitarian crisis from getting worse, the situation remains extremely precarious as millions of people may continue to rely on emergency aid for months or even years to come. More than 800,000 children aged under five are severely malnourished.

People have gathered in a camp in Fadhigab in the hope of finding water and receiving aid after their herds of livestock died and they were forced from their lands (Photo: Rob Hastings)

Meeting the victims

Sarah, 20, lives at Fadhigab camp with her young family:

(Photo: Rob Hastings)

“My daughter starved to death a month ago. She was seven,” she says. “I couldn’t do anything to help her. I cry when I think about her. I have three more children to look after – the oldest is nine, the others are two and three – but we were not on the list to receive any food aid yesterday.

“I have had nothing to eat today. We can only eat whatever our neighbours are kind enough to donate from their rations. I’ve been here for five months and there is nowhere else for us to go.”

Adam, 50, is a farmer from the village of Dhabarmamac:

(Photo: Rob Hastings)

“I used to farm on the land but the drought forced us to come to the village three months ago to receive aid,” he says. “I used to have 300 sheep and 100 camels. Now I have only one sheep and four camels left. All of the people here have lost livestock, many don’t have anything left.

“I feel like a refugee. Drought has happened here before but this is the worst. We were not expecting an emergency on this scale. We went from living happily with our animals to having nothing.

“What do I think about climate change? God knows. We feel that the weather has changed, but we hope that if God has changed it, he can change it again.

“We are still waiting for rain to come but the rainy season has passed. If it doesn’t rain again in the next couple of months, I fear that more people who depend on livestock will die.”

Fatima, 25, and her two sons are being treated at Burao malnutrition centre:

(Photo: Rob Hastings)

“I came to the hospital with two of my children and seven others from my village, which is 100km away,” she says. “Eight people died there recently because of the drought. People feel hopeless and desperate. Our family used to have 200 sheep and goats. Now we have only five left.

“The children were all seriously sick from malnutrition and I was worried by how skinny they were. This is the second time that I have had to come here – we went back last month but became ill once more. I’m afraid the same thing will happen again.

“We have been in the tent the whole time. There was no other option. But we are thankful to be receiving treatment here.”

Aid deliveries to Fadhigab are only enough for 200 out of the 500 families there (Photo: Rob Hastings)

i travelled to Somaliland with ActionAid, a leading British charity providing food and water to some of the most vulnerable drought victims in the region, as well as funding resilience schemes to protect them against future dry periods.

The charity’s emergency co-ordinator in Somaliland, Mustafa Ahmed Mohammed, said the problem was particularly serious in the eastern part of the territory, one of the poorest places in the world.

“If we withdraw our funds now and stop, then thousands of people will be on the brink of starvation,” he said. “They need food and water, they need medicine.”

He added: “When you look back over history, droughts used to happen once every decade. These days they are becoming more frequent.”

Six children in Fadhigab have died in the past month because of the effects of the drought (Photo: Rob Hastings)

Mapping the East Africa Crisis

Somaliland
Somalia split into three territories at the end of the civil war in 1991, but the world still treats it as just one country. Somaliland, like its neighbour Puntland, operates independently and has achieved political stability and security. But it has struggled to develop its economy and infrastructure because it remains unrecognised, which makes its people some of the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Somaliland is larger than England and Wales combined, although it has a population of just 4.4 million.

Somalia
The last drought in 2011 caused a famine which killed 260,000 people across Somalia, when the international community was too slow to react. The United Nations believes the current drought is worse and catastrophe has only been averted by a speedier response, but 3.2 million Somali people now cannot meet their daily food needs. More than half of the population – about six million people – are facing the possibility of a third famine in 25 years.

South Sudan
The first famine declaration anywhere in the world for six years was announced in February across parts of the world’s newest country, where a civil war has been raging for nearly four years. About 3.5 million people had already been forced to flee their land as a result of conflict, with drought now inflicting further devastation.

Kenya
The country is a popular tourist destination but remains poor and its northern areas have been badly affected by drought. More than 2.6 million people now urgently need food aid.

Ethiopia
The country has made important advances in development yet one third of Ethiopians still live in extreme poverty and earn less than $2 a day. The country’s worst drought in decades has still resulted in 7.8 million people needing food assistance.

The people in Fadhigab are used to living in huts as they are nomads but the conditions here are shocking (Photo: Rob Hastings)

i readers can help to make a difference

ActionAid is one of the 13 leading UK humanitarian charities working together through the Disasters Emergency Committee’s East Africa Appeal to deliver aid to the people who need it most, saving lives now while also working on long-term projects to prevent droughts from causing harm in the future

While the Department for International Development has led the world in government reponses, donations from the British public have also helped more than 250,000 people. The DEC charities plan to help 850,000 people by October and up to 1.5 million people over the coming year.

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